The Camden Fringe is almost upon us, providing one of the best times in the capital to get into Fringe theatre, and the stories it can tell. To get prepared for the festival, Read About Stuff is running a ‘Five From The Fringe’ interview series, where creative teams answer five questions about their upcoming Festival shows.
In this interview, I chat to John Ward about their new show Friends Help You Move.
Can you tell me a little about your show and what audiences can expect?
The show is called Friends Help You Move and it’s basically a dark comedy about two criminals who are planning a heist however their utter incompetence lands them in a situation that becomes increasingly fraught after they try to enlist a local psychopath from the criminal underworld to help them. Things get increasingly out of hand as they realise their options are narrowing as they find themselves in a situation way out of their depth and are faced with choices that they never wanted to make. Audiences can expect rapid fire banter and comedy as well as increasing tension with twists along the way as the protagonist’s situation gets more and more desperate.
What drew you to this specific story, and why does it belong at the Camden Fringe?
I’ve always been interested in criminals and people who choose to be, or just find themselves, at the fringes of society. They make choices that are beyond normal morality but what is interesting to me is why they do it and what brought them there. I wanted to tell a story about these guys and their situation but also to humanise them. The characters in the play are all trapped by choices they’ve made in their lives, even the psychotic gangster they try to enlist. Sure, he may have beaten someone half to death with a vegetable once but he has a human side. When I started writing this, it originally was a situation comedy where I just asked what would these two idiots say and do if they were suddenly put into a situation they didn’t know how to handle but as it progressed I was able to touch on more intellectually pretentious themes such crime and punishment (which I haven’t read by the way) and the potential for moral ambiguity that sits in us all and lies at the heart of why mostly everyone in society is awful. We’re a new company, and this is a first show so in that sense it very much belongs at the Camden Fringe.
What has been the biggest challenge in bringing this production to life?
The biggest challenge for touring this play has been getting a very realistic prop gun across international borders.
How does the design of your show (set, sound, or lighting) impact the presentation of your story?
We deliberately kept the set design simple and stark, just a table and two chairs. The lighting is also kept simple and tight to emphasise the paranoia and walls closing in on the two protagonists. This was both a practical choice for touring the show but also we think it suits the play. The play is set in the kitchen of one of the characters in a house referred to as being in the middle of nowhere. I wanted the play to have a sense of not being anywhere at all, a void in the real and moral sense.
If you could sum up the show in one word or phrase, what would it be and why?
“Careful what you wish for.”
The two main characters dream of stepping up in their criminal endeavours, but when they are finally exposed to what that means, one of them at least has some moral qualms about what they may have to do. He finds a conscience and agonises about the choices they have to make. The other one doesn’t give a shite.
Friends Help You Move runs at Etcetera Theatre on 6 – 8 August. Tickets are available here: https://camdenfringe.com/events/friends-help-you-move/
